Just saw the scatter rap commercial on the tube. How are you guys running these baits and how successful have they been for you? At $8.50 a pop I’d like to be a little more informed before I fill a box with them. Thanks
So far early this spring I’ve been fishing them in similar situations where I would cast a husky jerk and have been doing well on them for walleye, smallies and the occasional misguided pike. Some of my buddies have been trolling them on boards out on the Missouri and have been doing well on the ‘eyes. I’d say they’re proving to be very versatile. The Scatter Minnow has the best action at slower speeds while the Scatter Shad starts to “scatter” at a little higher speed and retains a bit of a tighter classic shad rap body movement while still “scattering” from one side to the other.
I’ve not fished the Scatter Crank or Scatter Countdown much yet to get a handle on their nuances so no comment there.
Overall they’re a pretty ground breaking bait in that they hunt and search side to side like mad on a retrieve which has been dynamite for triggering strikes. The movement in the water really has to be seen to be understood. For as long as I’ve been fishing cranks I’ve been tuning baits to stop them from moving off a straight line and here Rapala comes out with a bait that doesn’t blow out when it gets off center and hunts back and forth, side to side, creating the same erratic action I’ve been imparting on previous baits using rod snaps and pauses.
I’m hoping Rapala introduces a couple larger sizes for the muskie crowd as well as some deeper divers for mid-summer walleye so we can put these baits to use in some situations where I know that scatter action will really make a huge difference. Imagine a Super Shad that swims 2′ – 3′ off the line of retrieve… side to side, side to side. I would think a muskie or big weedline walleye would come unglued.
So long story short they’ve been working for me. 
I was longlining them over Mem. weekend along side reg. original floating raps in the same size and color (orange/gold) I put some split shot about 20″ above the floating. The scatter did better with some fish taking in the entire bait while the fish that hit the floating had the back hooks, I like them but due to price will be a slow growing collection.
I have the scatter minnow in natural. it has put smallies and a small muskie in the boat for me so far. I bought a firetiger pattern. I like twitching them on the top. varying your retrieve speed and snapping the rod tip makes the lure do some crazy things.
I put one next to traditional baits on P2 last week for a short time. The other baits caught multiple fish while my Scatter Rap caught nothing. It was not the preferred color since the shelves were picked clean.
thanks for the update. I too have been leery about dropping any cash on these since most of the reviews i have been hearing about them are from bass fishermen, and I seem to have that under control without any $9 lures. The limited depth ratings on these are what had me on the fence on what species these were really designed for, but if they are working great for shallow walleyes, I might have to get a few of my favorite colors…..
These sound like they maybe the next hot bait, look for the competition to come out with something similar.
I have to agree with James bigger ones need to be on the radar. With the early season bite on the smaller ones because of that slow wobble and big one could be amazing for big muskies.
The are becoming my go to bait for walleye off the night bite. Much better than other stickbaits thus far.
I had a chance to run the Scatter Rap Crank and also the Shad for bass recently. These baits do run super erratic almost like they are out of tune but that is the way they are desgined. They run true and they run nice and deep on long casts. You are not going to get deeper than 7′ on either bait but its perfect for a number 7 Scatter Rap Crank or Shad to run at this depth.
Scatter Crank in Smallie and Scatter Shad in White Bass
This past weekend I was exploring the back sloughs and pulled both the Rap and Crank with lead core and a 30′ lead to get the bait down to 12′-14′ of water and we pulled several eyes for the day… nothing lights out ,,,but the only color I had in both was firetiger…
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The limited depth ratings on these are what had me on the fence on what species these were really designed for, but if they are working great for shallow walleyes, I might have to get a few of my favorite colors…..
As an aside, Joel Nelson and I trolled them on Pepin last week and we were able to get them to 11′ on 115 foot of 6Lb diameter (20# test) Sufix 832. I would assume you could get them to 13′ – 14′ on a longer lead which is pretty deep for a stickbait.
As for “what species they were designed for” so far I’d say fish… with a mouth. 
So far I’ve caught walleye, sauger, smallies, largies, pike and muskie on them.
James what speed were you running? I had out 150′ and was only able to get around 9′
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James what speed were you running? I had out 150′ and was only able to get around 9′
Mid-2 MPH range.
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The limited depth ratings on these are what had me on the fence on what species these were really designed for, but if they are working great for shallow walleyes, I might have to get a few of my favorite colors…..
As an aside, Joel Nelson and I trolled them on Pepin last week and we were able to get them to 11′ on 115 foot of 6Lb diameter (20# test) Sufix 832. I would assume you could get them to 13′ – 14′ on a longer lead which is pretty deep for a stickbait.
As for “what species they were designed for” so far I’d say fish… with a mouth.
So far I’ve caught walleye, sauger, smallies, largies, pike and muskie on them.
and when someone asks where you caught them, do you say “corner of the mouth” ? hahahaha
thanks james 
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